Yāqūt Shihāb al-Dīn ibn-ʿAbdullāh al-Rūmī al-Ḥamawī (1179–1229) () was a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

ancestry active during the late Abbasid period (12th–13th centuries). He is known for his , an influential work on

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

containing valuable information pertaining to

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

as well as geography.

Life

''Yāqūt'' (''

ruby Ruby is a pinkish-red-to-blood-red-colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapph ...

'' or '' hyacinth'') was the '' kunya'' of Ibn Abdullāh ("son of Abdullāh"). He was born in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, the capital of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

, called in Arabic al-Rūm, whence his '' nisba'' "al-Rūmi". Captured in war and enslaved, Yāqūt became "

mawali ''Mawlā'' (, plural ''mawālī'' ), is a polysemous Arabic word, whose meaning varied in different periods and contexts.A.J. Wensinck, Encyclopedia of Islam 2nd ed, Brill. "Mawlā", vol. 6, p. 874. Before the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the te ...

" to ‘Askar ibn Abī Naṣr al-Ḥamawī, a trader of

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, the seat of the

Abbasid Caliph The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The family came ...

ate, from whom he received the ''

laqab Arabic names have historically been based on a long naming system. Many people from Arabic-speaking and also non-Arab Muslim countries have not had given name, given, middle name, middle, and family names but rather a chain of names. This system ...

'' "al-Hamawī". As ‘Askar's apprentice, he learned about accounting and commerce, becoming his envoy on trade missions and travelling twice or three times to

Kish Kish may refer to: Businesses and organisations * KISH, a radio station in Guam * Kish Air, an Iranian airline * Korean International School in Hanoi, Vietnam People * Kish (surname), including a list of people with the name * Kish, a former ...

in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

. In 1194, ‘Askar stopped his salary over some dispute and Yāqūt found work as copyist to support himself. He embarked on a course of study under the grammarian Al-‘Ukbarî. Five years later he was on another mission to Kish for ‘Askar. On his return to Baghdad he set up as a bookseller and began his writing career. Yāqūt spent ten years travelling in Iran,

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, and Egypt and his significance as a scholar lies in his testimony of the great, and largely lost, literary heritage found in libraries east of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

, being one of the last visitors before their destruction by Mongol invaders. He gained much material from the libraries of the ancient cities of

Merv Merv (, ', ; ), also known as the Merve Oasis, was a major Iranian peoples, Iranian city in Central Asia, on the historical Silk Road, near today's Mary, Turkmenistan. Human settlements on the site of Merv existed from the 3rd millennium& ...

where he had studied for two yearsand of Balkh. Circa 1222, he was working on his "Geography" in

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

and completed the first draft in 1224. In 1227 he was in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

. From there he moved to

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

, where he died in 1229.

Works

*''Kitāb Mu'jam al-Buldān'' () "Dictionary of Countries"; Classified a "literary geography", composed between 1224 and 1228, and completed a year before the author's death. An alphabetical index of place names from the literary corpus of the

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

, vocalizations, their Arabic or foreign derivation and

location In geography, location or place is used to denote a region (point, line, or area) on Earth's surface. The term ''location'' generally implies a higher degree of certainty than ''place'', the latter often indicating an entity with an ambiguous bou ...

. Yaqut supplements geographic descriptions with historical, ethnographic, and associated narrative material with historical sketches and accounts of

conquests, names of

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

monuments A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

, local celebrities etc., and preserves much valuable early literary, historical, biographic and geographic material of prose and poetry. (ed. F. Wüstenfeld, 6 vols.,

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, 1866–73
in MENAdocvol. 1 A-Ṯvol. 2 Ǧ-Zvol. 3 S-Fvol. 4 Q-Yvol. 5 Annotationsvol. 6 Index
*''Kitāb Iršād al-arīb ilā maʿrifat al-adīb al-maʿrūf bi-muʿǧam al-udabāʾ wa-ṭabaqāt al-udabāʾ''
in MENAdoc
, hg. D. S. Margoliouth, Brill, Leyden . a.1907ff
Vol. 1 : Containing part of the letter AlifVol. 2 : Containing the latter part of the letter Alif to the end of the letter ǦīmVol. 3, Part 1 : Containing part of the letter ḤVol. 4 : Containing the last part of the letter Ḥā to the first part of ʿAinVol. 5 : Containing part of the letter ʿAinVol. 6 : Containing the last part of the letter ʿAin to the first part of the letter MīmVol. 7 : Containing the last part of the letter Mīm to the end of the work
*''Mu'jam al-Udabā'' (=''Irshād al-Arīb ilā Ma’rifat al-Adīb''), () "Literary Encyclopedia, Expert Guide to Literature" (1226)
(Ar.)www.archive.org (Ar., Beirut, 1993)
*
al-Mushtarak wadh'ā wal-Muftaraq Sa'qā
' (); 1846 edition by Ferdinand Wüstenfeld: ''Jacut's Moschtarik, das ist, Lexicon geographischer Homonyme'', Ferdinand Wüstenfeld, 1846; reprinted, 1963, i
MENAdoc
::''Marâçid''; a 6-volume Latin edition by Theodor Juynboll, published as ''Lexicon geographicum, cui titulus est, Marâsid al ittilâ’ ‘ala asmâ’ al-amkina wa-l-biqâ'', in 1852
vol.3, archive.org
* **Alt: *''Muʿǧam al-buldān'' acut's Geographisches Wörterbuch vol. I–VI. Ed. F. Wüstenfeld, Leipzig 1866–73; 1924. reprint Tehran 1965; Beirut 1955–1957; Frankfurt 1994, ISBN 3-8298-1197-7 (original in Arabic, ISBN 964-435-979-8)
in MENAdocvol. 1 A-Ṯvol. 2 Ǧ-Zvol. 3 S-Fvol. 4 Q-Yvol. 5 Anmerkungen
nnotationsbr>vol. 6 Register
ndex. *''Lexicon geographicum, cui titulus est, Marâsid al ittilâ’ ‘ala asmâ’ al-amkina wa-l-biqâ’,'' ( Observation study of placenames and sites) 6 vols, edited by T.G. Juynboll, 1852 4; as ''Marasid al-ittila’ ‘ala asma’ al-amkina wa-al-biqa’: wa-huwa mukhtasar mu’jam al-buldan li-Yaqut,'' 3 vols, edited by ‘Ali Muhammad al-Bajjawi, 1992 *Yāqūt Ibn-ʻAbdallāh ar-Rūmī; ed. Theodor Juynboll;
Lexicon geographicum, cui titulus est Introductionem in hunc librum et annotationem in literas
'; Vol.4, p. 729;

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

, Brill (1859, Arabic-Latin)

Commentary

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Notes

References

External links